Yielding-arch construction



Oct. 14 1924.

E. P. STEVENS YIELDING ARCH CONSTRUCTION Filed April 28 192 1 jwawr rPatented Oct. 14, 1924.

UNITED STATES j 1,512ee4' PATENT OFFICE.

ENOQH P. STEVENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; MARY ANN STEVENS EXECUTBIX OFSAID ENOCH P. STEVENS, DECEASED.

"YIELDING-ARCH CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed April 28, 1921. Serial No. 465,161.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that I, ENOCH P. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Morgan Park, Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inYielding-Arch Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of brick arches for use infurnaces or other situations where the arch is subjected to great heat,and has for its primary object to provide means for suspending bricks inan arch in a manner to permit them to yield under expansion andcontraction incident to the wide range of temperature changes to I whichthe arch is subjected.

One feature of the invention consists in providing a yielding abutmentfor the arch and vertlcal suspension for the bricks that form thearch,of such character that thearch is not dependent upon its abutment for usustention. M

Another feature consists in providing hanging means for the arch whichwill provide direct suspension forv every brick in a row and support the-bricks of such row in the form of an arc of the arch; this end beingattained through means of a plurality of hangers arranged in a seriesextending in the direction of the row of bricks, and each constructed toembrace a plurality of the bricks in the row.

A further feature consists in constructing the hanger with an engaginghead adapted to engage the bricks (preferably by embracing undercutportions thereof) and a suspending member which is angul arly yieldingrelatively to the engaging head so that the head may conform ,to theseries of bricks which it engages, and the suspending member may extendtherefrom to the superstructure from which the arch is hung; saidsuspending member being also preferably adjustable on the headtransversely to the 'directionof suspension in order to facilitate itsattachment to the superstructure.

A further feature relates to an improved construction of hook upon theupper end of the suspending member through which the latter may engagethe superstructure.

Another feature which is peculiar to one embodiment of the engaging headconsists in making it in the form of a gripping clip eluding all of thefeatures above enumerated, is shown by way of illustration in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sectionsthrough a portion of an arch embodying the subject-matter of the presentinvention, the

sections being taken in two planes at right angles to each other, Figure2 being a view taken along the planes marked by the line 2-2 Figure 3 isa detail view of the resilient clip and bricks attached thereto; and

igure 4 is a detailed view of a modified construction of resilient archabutment.

1 represents hanger-supported bricks which are preferably arranged, asshown in Figure 2, in rows spaced apart appropriately to receive andsupport intermediate rows of bricks 2 between them. Each brick 1 isconstructed with a head 3 formed with recesses that develop shoulders bywhich the brick may be su ported.

5 represents a c ip having a body portion 5 and claws 5 formed thereonin position to engage beneath the shoulders 4 and thereby grip thebrick. While" the clip for many of the purposes of my inventionandwithout detracting from a full realization of some of the featuresthereof, he made of rigid form, the body 5 thereof, and if desired theclaws 5 thereof as well, may be made of material havin such inherentresiliency as will adapt t e clip to yieldingly press against a brickand thereby prevent chipping or spalling of individual bricks undertheir tendency to expand unequally or to twist or turn as a result ofdistortionvof the arch; and such resiliency also exists to a degree thatwill permit v the clip to snap over the head 3 of a brick the brick toor removing it 5 may,

it acomplete hanger, a feature of the pref ferred embodiment of myinvention consists in suspending the clip by means of a rod 6 I rectionof such row.

having a headed end 6 engaged with the body 5 of the clip in a manner torender the suspending member 'angularly flexible with relation to thisclip, and this rod has its upper end secured in a hook 7, preferablywith adjustment as by means of an ordinary nut which adapts the rod toengage a superstructure 8. In addition to angular adjustabilityofsuspending rod 6 in the clip 5, said rod is preferably adjust-ablebodily in the plane of the body of the clip through means of a slot- 5formed in the clip, and said 'slot may be made the means of convenientassembly of the suspending rod and clip and constructing the slot withan enlargement at one end as shown.

As shown in Figure 2, the clip 5 assumes a substantial angle to thevertical direction v of support, and for that reason the rod 6 isdisplaced sufliciently fromthe geometrical centerof the clip to bring itmore nearly over the center of gravity of the brick.

As shown in Figure 1, bricks 1 are relatively of short dimension in thelongitudi nal direction of the row in'which they are placed and the clip5 is sufiiciently long in such direction to embrace a group of suchbricks, preferably four in number, the rod 6 being, however, in atransverse plane of the clip that lies intermediate of its two ends, inorder to balancethe load lengthwise of the row. While each clip has adimension which permits it to embrace a plurality of bricks in thehanger supported row, each brick in said row is directly supported by ahanger. The hangers are arranged in a series extending in the di- Inorder that the arch may be expanded freely under the high temperature towhich it is subjected Without impairment of its support, at least oneabutment of the arch is rendered resilient, and to this end, a steelstrap 9 is extended across the abutment ends of the rows of bricks, andsupported at suitable ihtervals bythe shoe 10 on the rod 11, which islongitudinally sustained by spring 12- in housin 13.v The number ofspring supports emp oyed for this purpose will be varied at will. Assuggested by dotted lines in Figure 2, the present ilf lustrationemploys one of said spring supports for each row 'of hanger-supportedbricks. Any suitable form of subdivided material X may be em loyed formaking a gas tight closure at t e end of thearch without interferingwith expansion and contraction of the arch.

Under the effect of heat the dimensions of the bricks change materiallyand in ordinary constructions as now! known and used said bricks tend tospall. or sluif off,

which action is materially increased by reason. of the fact thatsaidbricks are subjected to heavy stresses which are unequallydistributed. In the ordinary constructions the bricks are quicklydestroyed. According to th present invention, the resilient abutment ofthe arch permits the bricks to expand and contract along the arc" of thearch. Destructive stresses are avoided and the spallingor' slulfingabove referred to are eliminated. The bricks are supported from aboveand only enough pressure is required laterally of the bricks to maintainsame in contact with one another.

When the bricks begin to vcontract and recede due to age and theterrific treatment to which they are subjected in heating and cooling,according to constructions as now commonly known and used, cracks occurand the arch frequentlycollapses. According to the present inventionthis contraction of the individual brickswis followed up I I able tohold the nose brick inwardl i as 3 well as upwardly, and extended beyonthe hook 7 a distance sufiicient to receive a spring 15 which permitstherod to yield to movements of the portion of the arch formed by the nosebricks. The nose bricks 14 will be of greater thickness than the bricks1 and there may be a 7, for each nose brick.-

hanger 5, 6,

With the combination of features as above described, an archconstruction is provided which is of a highly yielding nature, andsubject to minimum breakage of constituent bricks; at the same, time thebricks are firmly supported in a manner which renders them readilyremovable and replaceable with minimum disturbance of adjacentbricks. I

Instead of the direct thrust arrangement of resilient abutment for thearch shown in Figure 1, a lever 11 (Figure 4) may be employed withsimilar effect, with a fulcrum 11 and a spring 1:2 in a housing 13acting vertically upon the'lever from a point that is shielded from theheat of the furnace. The lever 11 is formed to convert vertical movementof the spring into horizontal movement at the bar 9;, In i thisarrangement the bricks 1 will be suspended by hangers 5, 6, in archingposition independently of the arch abutments.

I claim:

1. In a furnace arch, a row of bricksarranged in an arc of the arch, aplurality of brick-grippin members arranged in a series extending in t cdirection of the arc and engagin a plurality of the bricks in the row;each firick being engaged by one of said gripping members, a supportingstructure above the row of bricks, and suspending members between saidsupporti structure and the respective gripping mem rs, varyg in lengthand positioning the bricks in the arc.

2. An .arch construction comprising a row of bricks, a series of hangersfor said bricks affording vertical support to the bricks and positioningthem in an arc of the arch, and resilient means at an end of said rowpressing the bricks together to maintain them in contact with oneanother during expansion and contraction.

3. In an arch construction, a rowof bricks, hangers for said brickssupporting them in an arc of the arch, each brick being supported b ahanger, and each hanger engaging a p urality of bricks, and a'resilientabutment for said row of bricks adapted to press them together tomaintain them in contact with one another during expansion andcontraction.

4. In arch construction, a row of bricks, an abutment for said rowhaving resiliency in the longitudinal direction thereof,'and abrick-gripping hanger for the bricks in said a row sustaining verticalload of and yielding relatively to said bricks without releasing theirsupport thereof.

5. In a brick arch construction, hangers for the bricks comprisingbrick-engaging members and suspending rods passing through said brickengaging members and having headed ends through which they sustain thebrick-engaging members with angular adjustment.

6. In a brick arch construction, a hanger comprising a brick-engagingmember, and

a suspending rod therefor; said brick-engag ing member having a slotextending transversely to the direction of suspension; and said rodhaving a headed end engaging .in said slot.

7. In arch construction, a hanger for the bricks of an arch, comprisingan embracing yoke fashioned to provide opposing gripping claws, and asuspending rod extending from said yoke intermediate of said claws,

said yoke being mounted to swing in all directions on said suspendingrod.

8. An arch construction comprisin a row of bricks arrange in an are,means or supporting same from above, and yielding means at the end ofsaid row for maintaining said bricks in contact with one anotherduringnexpansion and contraction.

9. arch construction comprising a row of bricks arranged in an arc,angularly movable means for supporting same from above, and yieldingmeans at the end of said row for maintaining said bricks in contact withone another during expansion and contraction.

10. Top wall construction comprising bricks, means for supporting samefrom above, and yielding abutment means exerting pressure laterally ofsaid bricks for maintaining said bricks in contact with one anotherduring expansion and contraction.

11. In arch construction, a hanger for the bricks of an arch, comprisingan embracing yoke fashioned to provide opposing grip ping claws, andhaving inherent resiliency that permits the claws to separate in passinga brick to and from gripped relation there to, and resilient means formaintaining said bricks in lateral contact with one another.

12. In arch construction, a row of bricks an abutment for said rowhaving resiliency in the longitudinal direction thereof, and

hangers for bricks in saidrow comprising clips fashioned to griothebricks, and having inherent resiliency in the direction of impingementagainst the bricks.-

13. In arch construction, a row of bricks, and ban ers for said brickshaving clips fashione to grip the bricks in the transverse direction ofthe row, and having inherent resiliency in the direction of grippingimpingement against the bricks; the dimension of a clip in thelongitudinal directionof the row being suflicient toembrace a pluralityof bricks in the row.

14. In arch construction, bricks having oppositely presented recesses,and hangers for said bricks including in their construction clips havinggripping jaws adapted to enter said 'recesses and embrace the bricks;said jaws having resilienc in the direction of impingement against t ebricks andresilient means exerting lateral pressure against said bricksto maintain same in engagement with one another.

15. In arch construction, a nose supporting superstructure, a hanger forsaid brick comprising a clip gripping the brick, and a rod extendingupwardly and inwardly from said clip and having anchorage on thesuperstructure which is resilient longitudinally of the rod.

S1gned at Chicago, Illinois, this 23rd day of April, 1921. Y

I ENOCH P. STEVENS.

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